Meeting Time: February 27, 2023 at 9:00am PST

Agenda Item

2a) Discussion and Possible Action Including Providing Recommendations to Staff and Referral to the Board of Supervisors Recommending Approval of the County of Mendocino Cannabis Department Monthly Update for February (Sponsor: Cannabis)

   Oppose     Neutral     Support    
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    Erin Neuroth about 1 year ago

    I strongly support The Mendocino Cannabis Alliance Memo. Please take the time to understand the County of Mendocino Monthly Update for February and provide recommendations accordingly.
    Thank you

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    Michael Katz about 1 year ago

    Honorable Supervisors,

    Please see MCA's attached memo on this item.

    We appreciate your consideration.

    Sincerely,

    Mendocino Cannabis Alliance
    e: info@mendocannabis.com

  • Default_avatar
    Heidi Wordhouse about 1 year ago

    I ask that the February update from the MCD be not approved until the MCD Director's stated reasons for the LEEP grants failure to score, be re-assessed by a member of the Board or GGC in direct conversation with the Deputy Director of Go-Biz or his assistant. While the Director of the MCD takes three paragraphs to describe her interpretation of why Go-Biz wished to remove the 5-mile CAMP radius and replace it with an affidavit, those three paragraphs, I believe, do not correctly convey the state's true reasoning. Further, three of the four other reasons the grant was likely declined were briefly mentioned in the very last sentence, being given insufficient weight compared to the state's wishes to move from a difficult-to-define 5 mile radius to a less-complicated qualifier. Those three issues being processing applications in a faster way, describing what the MCD director states is 'specialized permitting opportunities' (which does not appear in the LEEP grant text, so is undefined), reducing MCD barriers to entry for equity entrepreneurs, and the completely unmentioned 'how the MCD is incorporating feedback into the grant funding framework and responses. An improved grant application in October cannot happen unless the BoS is clear on how the MCD so grossly mis-handled this grant request that it was denied. Accountability is key, knowing specifically what went wrong and how to fix it, is key. Accountability means having someone completely unrelated to the grant writer or the Department, review the submitted grant and scoring with Go-Biz, comparing with the previous year, then return that information to the Board so the board knows how best to assist the MCD Director and grant writer/s in future endeavors, as well as the true emphasis the state wishes to convey. Missing this grant likely cost the county 2 million dollars we are unable to replace, inconveniencing the board and putting applicants even further behind the 8-ball. Mendocino cannot afford to have the next LEEP grant handled as blindly as this last lost attempt. Is 2 million dollars enough to be worth additional, and specific oversight for future LEEP opportunities?

    I urge you to Vote NO on accepting the staff update for February as at least some of the information is incomplete. Until the states' reasoning for scoring the county's grant application so low can be specifically ascertained the extended conjecture on one reason while effectively ignoring the other four, would show a distinct lack of accountability.
    Thank you.